Authors:

Aarav Pasad

Date Created:

Not specified

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Professor:

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About Paper:

Building materials are critical inputs to construction processes and can substantially impact sustainability outcomes. The considerable consumption of energy and resources from building construction, as well as the projected growth rate of the construction industry, makes material sustainability assessment an emerging necessity. A proliferation of approaches is in use today, such as Life-Cycle Assessment and Green Building rating systems. However, these assessments consider varying definitions and disparate criteria, preventing consistent interpretation of results. This provides an opportunity to unify current sustainability methods into a self-consistent and holistic material sustainability framework. To this end, this paper identifies and interprets extant material sustainability approaches through a systematic literature review (n = 1650) in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. A structured Scopus search is used to curate a credible and extant body of knowledge on material sustainability assessment. A hybrid thematic analysis supported by Natural Language Processing and clustering techniques is employed to distill recurring sustainability themes and develop a structured taxonomy. Metrics spanning technical, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions are extracted from certifications, standards, and peer- reviewed literature, and mapped onto the identified taxonomy's thematic categories, highlighting critical gaps and inconsistencies in current sustainability assessment. The research identifies opportunities to advance material sustainability assessment practice by enabling a more rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of sustainability. It also provides an opportunity to localize assessment measures, offering valuable insights for building designers, researchers, and standards organizations. Keywords: Sustainability; Material Selection; Life Cycle Assessment; Green Building Rating System; Systematic Review

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Aarav Pasad